QuickLook

Classic Airframes has followed on from
its excellent F-5A with the Photo Recon version.

The kit contains 66 crisply moulded
plastic styrene parts in a medium grey colour. The detail on these parts
equals that of the mainstream manufacturers with absolutely no flash
evident. 4 clear parts are provided for the canopy, windscreen, upper
and lower recon nose halves. The canopy and windscreen are crystal clear
and look great.

The resin parts are truly something
else. I do not know who is doing the masters and casting for Jules, but
these are amongst the best resin that I have seen for both detail and
crispness of casting. There are13 resin parts in all, these are flawless
in that not imperfections or air bubbles are evident. The cockpit tub,
seat, nose and main wheel wells have so much detail in them that it
would be hard to believe that any was missed. A nice inclusion is opened
speed brakes cast in resin with once again a high level of detail.

Click
the thumbnails below to view larger images:

A centerline drop tank is provided, as
are the coke bottle wing tip tanks. These look to have the correct
profile unlike other F5 kits that have gone before. Alternative weapons
for the wing tips are provided in the shape of AIM 9B Sidewinders, as is
the full complement of wing pylons with separate sway braces. The engine
intakes are moulded separate from the fuselage allowing for some good
depth down the intakes. The intakes finish into a solid wall moulded on
the fuselage, which does not matter, as you need to put your head into
the intake mouth to see the engine compressor anyway.

The decals are printed by Microscale with the carrier film being
exceptionally thin. On my sample the South Vietnamese national markings
were slightly out of register but the rest was perfect.

Markings are provided for three
aircraft:

A
South Vietnamese Air Force RF-5A based at Bien Hoa airbase in 1967
in Dark Green, Medium Green, Tan, and Light Grey with the yellow and
black checker band around the waist area.

A
Spanish Air Force RF-5A in the 1970s in Dark Green, Brown, Tan, and
Light Grey.

A
Canadian CF-5A-R based at Elmendorf Air Force Base Alaska in 1968.

In summary, this is an excellent
looking kit that should be relatively easy to build.